Decorated Former WWE Star to Debut in AEW Soon
Keith Lee is heading to AEW, according to the latest report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select. The first man to ever hold both the NXT and NXT North American Championships simultaneously saw the 90-day "No Compete" clause on WWE contract expire last week following his release back in early November. Sapp noted that it's unclear whether or not Lee will make his debut tonight on AEW Dynamite in Atlantic City, which is set to have a new signee debut and take on Isiah Kassidy in a qualifying match for the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match at next month's Revolution pay-per-view.
"AEW talent themselves didn't know for sure Lee was coming in, but word began to spread as talent traveled in that Lee was coming in," Sapp noted. Lee and fellow wrestler Mia Yim made headlines this past weekend by officially tying the knot.
"Thank you for all the positivity that has been dropped on me the past few days as well as the birthday wishes. I love you. Worry not. We are not done. We work," Lee wrote in a statement following his release. "Several months ago it was not a guarantee I would make it to this day, so there is positivity in that. I paid all my medical bills fom the many offices and machines I frequented. There is positivity in that. And, I do find it amusing that people believe anyone but me paid for my medical expenses. I was going to wait a couple weeks, but I think it's time to look toward the future, forward march as I like to say. I am capable of so much more and I can't wait to see what it looks like properly. I have a wide array of interests and abilities.... I also consider myself to be rather open-minded. Here's to the future, for all intents and purposes... seems Limitless."
AEW president Tony Khan has been hard at work promoting the company's newest signing in interviews this week. He addressed fan expectations while talking with TV Insider — "I try to listen to the fans and pay attention to audience feedback. I think it helps because it gives me some idea of what the fans in a larger sense want to see. Different fans have different ideas about the different wrestlers they like. You can gauge the excitement around a certain wrestler or match or moment. I believe people will get very excited about the debut of this new signing is. This is somebody wrestling fans really respond to."